FOR THE HOUSEWIFE.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVI, Issue 60, 11 March 1915, Page 8

FOR THE HOUSEWIFE.

SEASONABLE RECIPES AND

HINTS.

USES OF VARIOUS FRUITS.

Fruits of various kinds are . now plentiful. It is to be deplored how really few people make full use of the fruit season. When the days are hot and dusty the very thought of fruit It should appear at every meal at this season.

There arc many reasons why fruit should be freely eaten at this time of year. Doctors recommend fresh fruit and vegetables as the principal, diet, as animals foods arc much too stimulating to the system.

There are a great many varieties of fruit dishes in the form of creams, tarts, ices, etc The thoughtful housewife will aUo lay in a store for winter use in the form of jams, bottled fruits, pickles, liqueurs, and wines.

I American cooks are renowned for their novelties in fruit dishes. They aTe both simple and dainty. The following are a few recipes wliich might help our readers to ring the changes during the season! SALFICON OF FRUITS. Mix together lightly an equal quantity of strawberries, grapes, and raspberries. Add a little sugar and a little sherry. Place in glasses and serve. It is necessary to have a good supply of juice in the glasses. FRUIT JUICES. These are very popular served as a first course for luncheons. Place a quart of fruit-juice in a china-lined saucepan. Stir into this a tablespoonful of arrowroot previously smoothed with a little cold water. Cook until the mixture clears, add a teacupful of sugar. Serve in glasses when thoroughly cold, adding to each a piece of ice. FRUIT ICES. Crush any fruit to a pulp. Prepare a syrup by boiling two cupfuls of sugar and half a cupful of water together for ten minutes. Add this to the crushed fruits and freeze in ab ice-machine. Serve in glasses with a strawberry or raspberry on top of each, or a portion of whatever fruit is being used.

TO STEW FRUIT. Dissolve Jib of sugar in a quarter of a pint of water by boiling for a few minutes. Place the fruit in this syrup and simmer very gently for five minutes. The fruit must not become broken. Turn into a glass dish and serve with custard or cream. ' FRUIT SALAD. Arrange a variety of ripe fruits in a salad bowl, cutting the larger .varieties, such as pineapple, pear, or apples, into cube-shaped pieces. Make a syrup with sugar and water, using twice as much sugai;, as water. Add a glass of maraschino or sherry, and pour over the fruit. Glace cherries, strips of angelica, chopped pistachio nuts, almonds, etc, may be 'added as a garnish. STRAWBERRY FOAM. 7 To each lib of strawberries allow, }Ib of castor su-rar: Beat' these well together. Whip the whites of three eggs to a froth, and add the froit syrup. Beat all together for twenty minutes and serve piled up in a glass dish, THE ART OF JAM MAKING. 1. Use only fruit ,-which has been gathered dry. Wet fruit prevents the jam from keeping and is a cause of mould.

2. Fruit should be boiled almost mime diately it is gathered.

3. Always use the best sugar and in the right proportions. Cheap sugar is unsatisfactory, and docs not result in any saving.

4. As a general rule lib of fruit requires ITb of sugar, bat this varies slightly with the amount and the kind of' fruit.

5. Use a copper or china-lined pan, and stir with a wooden spoon. 6. The fruit must be boiled quickly and stirred frequently if the colour and flavour arc to be of the best.

7. Over-boiling destroys both colour and flavour. Twenty minutes, to half an hour is Jong enough to boil most jams. 8. Store, if possible, in glass bottles, so that any signs of fermentation or mould can be easily detected. ' 9. Jam must be stored in a cool, dry cupboard. - STRAWBERRY JAM. Remove any faulty fruit, also sfalfe. Allow jib of sugar to. each pound ol fruit. Boil for half an hour until the liquid jellies when cooled on a saucer. .Bottle and store.. RASPBERRY JA&L This is made in exactly the same way as strawberry'jam. Red currant juice is sometimes added to strawberries; in this case ")lb of 6ugar is added with each pint of juice. BLACK CURRAST JAM. -Black.currants are sometimes dry and !hard. If so, add half a gill of water with each pound of fruit, and also lib of sugar to each pound of fruit, and projceed as for strawberry jam.- - RED CURRANT JELLY. Place the red currants in the preserv-ing-pan, adding a little water. Simmer very gently until all the juice is extracted from the fruit. Strain this through a muslin, and allow llb r of sugar to each pint- of juice. Boil .for half an hour until jellied. • v N.B.—Gooseberries treated in the same manner make excellent jelly, which is cheaper and naturally more economical.

VEGETATE MARROW JAMi Peel and remove the pulp of a marrow: Cut the. marrow into thick pieces. To every, pound of marrow add lib of sugar. Allow this to stand for twentyfour hours. Add the juice and rind of on© lemon to each 21b of marrow (grating the rind very finely). Place joz of whole ginger in a muslin. Boil all gently for two hours.. When nearly finished add a glass of brandy. This ensures keeping, as marrows are of a very watery nature' and quickly go wrong without some preservative. •